Along side the Farmer’s Market & Art in the Plaza is the first annual Salsa in the Plaza!

This one day fiesta for all will showcase a wide variety of activities for people of all ages. There will be food tasting from several local Latino restaurants, as well as homemade dishes from our woman’s committee. The Youth group will be operating a face painting both for children. The Salsa in the Plaza will take place at Kennedy Plaza in Long Beach on Saturday July 21st from noon until 4 pm.

All are invited to come down, and all donations go to our woman’s committee, youth group, environmental research, and the Long Beach Latino Civic Association, a nonprofit organization committed to the betterment of tomorrow for all.

The Long Beach Waterfront Warriors (LBWW) organization in cooperation with the City of Long Beach is honored to welcome over 30 wounded soldiers and their families to our barrier island this week, July 20 through 26th, for some deserved rest and relaxation. A 5K “Race for the Warriors” will take place this Sunday, July 22 at 8 am on the boardwalk at Riverside, with a Welcome Parade at 3 pm beginning on Ohio Avenue in the West End.

The soldiers, who are recuperating at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington D.C. from injuries sustained while on duty, will become honorary Long Beach residents this week and will be staying in the homes of many local families and also at the Allegria Hotel.

While in Long Beach, the soldiers and their families will be treated to a special week filled with barbecues, beach events, surfing lessons, trips to NYC, a baseball game, a welcome parade, as well as other activities including rest and
relaxation.

The LBWW has raised money through fundraisers at local establishments and through the sale of raffles and commemorative LBWW merchandise. With the funding, the group has been able to provide support services for soldiers over the past 4 years, like medical treatment and evaluation, temporary housing, holiday gifts for those oversees and veterans’ rehabilitation services at Northport Veterans Hospital.

You can participate in supporting the Waterfront Warriors this week by running in or watching the 5K Race on Sunday at 8am on Riverside Blvd and the boardwalk. Registration takes place online at www.active.com or that morning at race site.

The highlight of the visit will be the “Welcome Parade.” Be sure to grab your beach chair and put on your best Americana; set up on West Beech and welcome the soldiers and their families to our beautiful City by the Sea. The parade steps off from Ohio Avenue at 3pm and travels to Long Beach Catholic Regional School school yard. The public is welcome to join the Waterfront Warriors at a BBQ in the school yard honoring these brave men and woman. (Donation of $10 at the gate includes BBQ, ice cream for the kids, bounce castle and live entertainment, and will support future visits by soldiers).

ALL ARE WELCOME! View the event flier on the bottom of this page, or visit Long Beach Waterfront Warriors online @ www.lbwaterfrontwarriors.org.

Jamie Lynch, the Co-Chair of the Long Beach Waterfront Warriors send me an update of this year’s events and an outline of what the organization is all about:

This year we will be hosting 30 service members and their families from Walter Reed – July 20th – July 26th. We have planned various activities which include fishing, surfing, a trip to NYC, kayaking, and other activities and the highlight this year will be our service members being honored at the Mets/Nationals game on July 23rd. As always, the welcome parade and BBQ is a big hit and draws the entire community out to honor our heroes. This year’s welcome is scheduled for Sunday, July 22nd.

Our efforts to achieve these goals of transporting service members and their families and to fund the activities requires us to reach out to the public for their financial support. Additionally, there are many ways for the public to get involved. Those wishing to donate their home to host a service member and their family, to be a liaison, or to volunteer their time during the visit is always greatly appreciated. There are many avenues for people to get involved, and we encourage this….what more noble a cause is there then to give back to those who put their life on the line for us? Our organization is in its 4th year and has been very successful and is growing, yet this only happens with the support from our Long Beach family.

Thus far, with the support of the Long Beach community, we have been able to support hundreds of service members and their families. In addition to providing Walter Reed service members an annual vacation in Long Beach, we have also been able to benefit the North Port VA by assisting with the rehabilitation of their recreation facility, providing computer and Internet access and assisting with funding a sports rehabilitation trip to Colorado. Additionally, we have sent over 1,000 care packages overseas to our service members during the holidays, and most recently received and fulfilled a request for supplies from the 82nd Airborne (we must be doing something right if we get a call from the 82nd Airborne!).

Our organization is a completely volunteer based group with 95% of donations going back to service members. We encourage everyone to visit our web site – www.lbwaterfrontwarriors.org – and to help us continue to grow and give back to those who deserve much more.

Just a few more days until we start packing and shipping boxes, hope to see you all there. If you have already done your shopping, please feel free to drop the items off at the VFW or Allegria so we can start sorting items for Sunday before you all arrive. Everyone is invited to join in the holiday cheer at the Allegria and pack a box or two – arts and crafts will be provided for the kids to make cards to send along with our boxes. Looking forward to another successful, heartwarming event!